


Why This; Why Now

by aerobesk



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You are so lucky I’m in a good mood. Normally, that would have deserved a punch in the face.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why This; Why Now

Things had calmed down a little ever since they returned to Valhalla. Wash had been injured during their fight and needed to recover before they could go anywhere else. So the reds, blues, and the two freelancers were stuck there for a few weeks. And some of them weren’t too happy about it.

Tucker rolled his eyes, setting his helmet next to him and trying to tune out the sound of Grif’s shouting. He sat down, lounging on top of the base, chuckling as he heard shots being fired and Grif’s screams turning into yelps of fear and pain.

The blue soldier jumped when he heard a slam behind him, turning to see what it was. Carolina was standing there, her helmet lying next to her feet with a cracked visor, her back to Tucker and her forehead resting on the now closed door. She sighed, hands falling limply to her sides.

There was silence for a while before Tucker spoke.

“Are you going to stand there until your legs give out or are you going to come sit with me?”

He stared out over the bases, the waterfall behind him almost drowning out Carolina’s footsteps as she approached. She sat down next to him, following his gaze out over the grass and trees.

“How’s he doing?”

“A little better. Caboose won’t leave his side.”

“That’s not surprising.”

“Yeah, I guess not. Wash shouldn’t be able to move out for another week though, and even then we’ll have to take it slow.”

“I’ll take it slow if you want baby.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her expression blank. He stopped laughing weakly, coughing and redirecting his gaze back out towards the red base. He could just barely see two figures on top of it, and heard a shot followed by a long scream from Grif. Tucker caught sight of the orange soldier falling from the wall, and winced as he watched the cloud of dust that came from his landing spot.

“Have they always treated him like that?”

“Yeah. I don’t think they ever really liked him much.”

“They used to shoot him when you guys were in the canyon too?”

“Oh yeah.”

“They should treat their team better.”

Tucker shrugged.

“It’s just kind of how it’s always been. I would be more worried if they suddenly stopped.”

“Why’s that?”

The aqua Spartan rubbed the back of his neck, looking up into the sky.

“I wasn’t really a fan of Blood Gulch, don’t get me wrong. But at least then, I knew what was gonna happen. I was gonna wake up, argue with Church over the sniper rifle, and watch an orange and a maroon guy talk all day. And then everything changed. Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know if my best friends are going to be alive by the next morning or not. I miss the normality, you know? This constant worry thing is kind of annoying. Especially when I’m worried about people who could get themselves killed in a fucking empty room if they wanted to.”

There was silence between the two. When Tucker finally glanced at Carolina, she was staring at him.

“What?”

“No one talks like that.”

“Like what?”  
“Like you. Like they actually miss it.”

The blue soldier looked away, slumping forward and staring at his hands.

“I don’t think anyone else really does miss it.”

There was another minute of silence.

“You know, I cared about my team more than I had ever thought possible.”

Tucker looked at her to find her focused on red base again.

“They were the best of the best, for sure. I could trust them with their lives in battle. Well, most of them.”

She smiled a little.

“Wash wasn’t exactly the best fighter. But they were more than the best. They were my friends. I always knew there was a chance they wouldn’t come back, but I never dwelled on it because I knew they could take care of themselves.”

She focused her gaze on Tucker again.

“It must be hard to not have that security.”

He couldn’t help himself. He had to do it. “It’s not the only thing that’s hard. Bow chicka bow wow.” It wasn’t his best, but he just couldn’t pass it up.

Carolina stared at him for a moment. And then she started to laugh.

Not her little “I’m beating you and enjoying it” laugh. Not her “you said something really mean and kind of funny” laugh. But a full on, throaty, gorgeous explosion of laughter. Tucker knew his eyes were wide and he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. Her face had transformed. It sounded ridiculous, but it had. Her eyes were brighter, her face was fuller and had color; she was younger, less broken somehow.

She pulled herself together after a moment, looking at Tucker.

“You are so lucky I’m in a good mood. Normally, that would have deserved a punch in the face.”

She stood up, still smiling slightly, and picked up her helmet.

“I should go check on Wash again, and then go make sure that they don’t incapacitate that orange moron before we leave.”

She turned and left, leaving Tucker sitting alone on the roof of the base again.

He didn’t realize until almost 5 minutes later, when he heard Carolina and Sarge yelling at each other, that he was still thinking about how her hair framed her face when it wasn’t in a ponytail.

He fell back, banging his head on the base as he let out a groan.

This wasn’t going to be fun.


End file.
